Page 185 of What Started In Deception

She kissed him.

He tossed her a wink as he pulled her back for another press of his lips against hers.

“We should clean up,” she told him.

He nodded. “We should.”

They both stood, putting their dishes into the dishwasher.

He hooked his arm around her shoulders as she closed the door and started the wash cycle. “Should we head to DC?”

She nodded as they headed toward the garage and her Telluride. “DC today to get you moved in. My classroom tomorrow because I have stuff to do.”

He pulled on his sneakers. “I can help you with your classroom.”

Lydia did the same. “If you want to.”

“I do.” He opened the door to the garage. “When school starts, will I be able to come visit you and the kids sometimes?”

She grinned. “Yes.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to seeing Ms. Monroe in action.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to having an extra sexy classroom helper.”

He grinned as he touched the button to open the garage door. “Let’s get this done.”

Lydia stared out the window, studying the numerous buildings as she and Ty drove through the heavier downtown traffic, much like she had when they made their original trip to the city not all that long ago.

It was crazy how much had changed in a few short weeks—and all of it was for the better. When she and Ty had driven to DC the first time, they’d been newfound friends trying to navigate an unfortunate game that she hadn’t wanted to play at all. Now, they were moving in together and talking about marriage and children.

Every bit of it made her happy, but there were still lingering details that they had yet to figure out after their summer full of lies.

“Hey,” Ty said from the driver’s seat, snagging her hand off her lap as they inched forward in the congestion on Pennsylvania Avenue NW. “You got quiet on me.”

She shrugged. “I was just thinking about how much has changed in such a short amount of time.”

He nodded. “It’s been a whirlwind. A good one.”

She nodded this time. “Everything’s perfect.”

He took his eyes off the road long enough to meet her gaze. “Except… Because there’s definitely an ‘except’ that follows that statement.”

She shrugged again. “I can’t wait to tell Mac that we’ve worked stuff out—that you’re moving in with me. But there’s this shadow over all of it.”

He nodded. “I can see how you would feel that way.”

“Don’t you?”

He nodded again, easing his way into the left-hand lane for their turn onto 11th Street. “We told a lot of half-truths.”

“Which I hated then and hate just as much now.”

He looked at her again. “We did what we had to do, Lyd.”

She wrinkled her nose at his justification, even if it was true. But it didn’t make any of it better. “We have so many secrets. I constantly feel like I have to watch everything that I’m saying so I don’t make a mistake and say something that I’m not supposed to.”

“Yeah, it’s certainly not easy. It felt really nice to be straight with my mom this morning.”